By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister (FM) Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Wednesday invited the US to deepen trade and non-trade ties during a telephonic talk with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who called him to discuss matters of bilateral significance.
“The two counterparts agreed to increase cooperation and continue momentum on the ongoing dialogues on climate change, energy, health, security, and trade and investment,” a statement issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
The ministry also said both sides agreed to maintain sustained engagement in future.
FM Bilawal in a tweet said the two sides exchanged views to further strengthen bilateral ties. “We must increase people-to-people and business-to-business contacts,” the foreign minister was quoted as saying to Secretary Blinken.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on its official Twitter handle said both leaders lauded the visit of US State Department’s Special Representative for Commercial and Business Affairs, Dilawar Syed to Pakistan.
According to the statement, during the telephonic meeting the foreign minister underscored that Pakistan had a long-standing and broad-based relationship with the United States which needed to be reinforced and widened on the basis of mutual respect and mutual trust.
He spot-lit the need for frequent exchange of high-level visits to realise the full potential of bilateral cooperation across a vast range of areas.
Bilawal particularly stressed that, given the demographic and economic potential of Pakistan, the US may invest in Pakistan’s growing market.
He hoped the Trade and Investment Framework’s Ministerial Meeting could be held later this year to give further impetus to trade ties along with holding of Business Opportunities’ Conference.
He urged Secretary Blinken to ease the visa issuance process for Pakistani nationals including students, businesspersons and professionals.
Spoke to @SecBlinken, today. We reaffirmed our mutual desire to further strengthen bilateral ties by expanding our engagement in trade, energy, health & security marking 75 years of our relationship. We must increase people-to-people & business-to-business contacts. 🇵🇰 🤝 🇺🇸
— BilawalBhuttoZardari (@BBhuttoZardari) July 6, 2022
The Foreign Minister also underlined that the dire humanitarian situation in Afghanistan, accentuated by the recent earthquake, required scaling up of the international community’s assistance to Afghanistan.
Bilawal reiterated Pakistan’s resolve to remain engaged for the promotion of shared objectives of peace and stability in Afghanistan.
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